A quest to visit every restaurant in town in search of the best lunch; and its best coffee shops.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Santiago's Cafe

<2010-06-06 Sun> I haven't been there for a long time, but for somereason the last time was also a rainy day. Sitting by the largewindows, makes these days particularly comfortable. And there are thecrayons. A full basket of them, and an paper that covers the table towrite in. You can let your imagination fly.

I decided to order Chipotle Prawns, to which you have to add the sidedish. After a bit I discovered I was missing bread, so I asked forsome (even if I had to pay for it--which I did) and was asked if Ipreferred tortillas, to which I immediately agreed. Hence this wasmore like: build-your-own lunch kind of thing.

The dish was good, but had an acetic flavour (I think it was sundriedtomatoes marinated in vinegar, but I might be wrong), and the basmatirice was slightly overcooked (but very edible). Certainly one lunchthat I'd be happy to make at home, but not one that woes me. Thetortillas were nicely grilled (but too many, 4 huge tortillas!). Ienjoyed my lunch.

The main downside is that the cumulative cost of all the "extras"amounted to the largest bill I have paid so far, and puts in theterritory of the expensive restaurants. This actually shows how gooddeals some restaurants are: for 17 dollars I get a great lunch at someof the top restaurants of the city (where these extras are included,bread and side dish).

But to be fair, the tortillas were not really needed, in such case thebill would have been only 15.65, still in the same price category.Given that the food was not perfect, its makes the restaurant tooexpensive for what it offers. On the other hand, the food is goodenough that I don't mind visiting, if I have to.

Update: It finally settled in. Restaurants are roughly divided into twocategories based upon if they charge a different price at lunch ornot. Santiago's is one of those that charges the same pricenonetheless. Hence, for a lunch destination feels pricey, but for adinner destination is a good deal. On the other hand, it is alsoexplains why they serve soo much food at these places. From now on I'llclassify them based on that.

Verdict: Expensive. _Only_ if you are in the area (and subject to more research ofsuch area), or if you want a very late lunch.